Identifying Migratory Students: Confirming Migrant Status and Making Referrals

Confirm Migrant Status of Already Certified Students

A list of currently enrolled migrant students is available in WISEdash for districts.

Eligibility is statewide and active for 36 months. A student certified while living in one school district might later enroll in another district. To confirm migrant status, an LEA should log on to WISEdash for Districts through WISEhome and use the Enrollment by Subgroup dashboard to view the list of migrant students currently enrolled in the district. LEA staff who need to monitor the list of migrant students but need specific access to do so should contact their District Security Administrator for assistance.

Whenever a student is newly certified as migrant or an existing migrant student enrolls in a district, a Migrant Student Enrollment Alert will be sent in WISEdata. This will prompt the LEA to log in to WISEdash to confirm the list of migrant students. DPI requires acknowledgement of the alert upon review of the list of migrant students.

If questions remain about a student’s eligibility, an LEA can verify a federal certification of eligibility by contacting the Wisconsin Migrant Education Program staff.

The DPI Migrant Status: WISEdata page provides more information regarding how migrant status is sourced for WISEdata as of the 2020-2021 school year.

Making Referrals When a District Identifies Potential Migratory Students but No Certification is Confirmed

It’s important for LEAs to understand factors that might make a student or family eligible for migrant status, so they can refer those families to DPI for certification. However, no LEA is expected to know all the nuances of certifying eligibility. Only a DPI MEP recruiter can certify a family for eligibility.

A child over the age of 3 or an adult under the age of 22 may be eligible for services if:

• a parent, guardian, the student themself, or the student’s spouse are migratory agricultural workers, migratory fishermen, work in agricultural processing plants, or work in fish processing plants; and
• have moved school districts, or a greater distance, in the preceding 36 months to obtain temporary or seasonal employment.

More detail regarding eligibility requirements can be found in Section II of the Non-Regulatory Guidance for the Title I, Part C Education of Migratory Children, 2017.

Step 1. Learn More About the Family

The best way for districts to learn whether a family might be eligible is through screening questions provided at enrollment. All LEAs are required to have a process for identifying migratory students, and screening questions help gather some minimal information to indicate potential eligibility.

Below are some example questions a district might use to screen families at enrollment:
Example Questions for Enrollment to Determine Potentially Eligible Students
Indiana’s Work Survey
Further examples from other states through the IDRC

Other ways you might learn information about a family’s migrant work is through community partnerships, knowledge of local employers, or staff communications with the family.

Step 2. Make a Referral

Anyone can use the MEP referral form to refer students to the MEP Identification and Recruitment Team. Referrals go directly to a state recruiter, and they will contact the family to conduct an interview. They might first contact the LEA with follow up questions, or follow up with the LEA after the interview to notify them of any needs that were identified during the conversation with the family.

Statewide Recruitment

Wisconsin utilizes a statewide recruitment model. The ID&R Coordinator directs the work of the state recruiters as referrals are received. Recruiters meet with families and connect with employers and other partner agencies around the state to learn of migrant farmworker families. They are trained to determine if students are eligible and complete Certificates of Eligibility (COEs).

Statewide Migrant Recruiter Contact Information

Sources

• Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Sections 1111(b)(2)(B)(xi)(VI) and 1112(c)(1)
• Non-Regulatory Guidance for the Title I, Part C Education of Migratory Children, 2017.
• 34 CFR §§ 200.81